


Aftermath of the Palace

by brightandshinynewstories



Category: Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Crystal Palace, Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Mention of Animal Death, Post-Canon, brief description of canon injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-20 07:27:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22945324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightandshinynewstories/pseuds/brightandshinynewstories
Summary: In the aftermath of the worst night of their lives, Hana, Badger, and Alexandra discuss what happened.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Aftermath of the Palace

**Author's Note:**

> I discovered this in my drafts and decided to polish it up and put it out here. I think I originally intended for this to be much longer, but it's still a nice little character piece.

Four hours into the cat show, Dr. Farris had seen very little of either cats or show, but the endless speech did give him ample time to recover from the train ride by falling asleep in his seat. He entirely missed the part of the evening when the electric lights overhead dimmed for a moment, the brief period of time when a distant scream cut through the droning voice of the speaker, and the ripple of excitement when a gentleman near the front spilled brandy on his lady companion’s skirt. He likely would have continued to sleep through the entire event, except that he was abruptly awakened by a firm shake of the shoulder and a voice in his ear.

“There’s been an accident, doctor. We’ve called for an ambulance, but in the meantime we wondered if you wouldn’t take a look.” The gentleman who’d woken him spoke softly but with enough urgency that Dr. Farris immediately got to his feet.

“I haven’t my bag, I’m afraid--” he began, but the man hurried him along as if he couldn’t hear him.

Dr. Farris was still blinking sleep from his eyes and trying to appear alert when Mr. (upon being informed of the man’s rank, he had promptly forgotten it) Badger led him into a side room containing some rather tacky furniture and two women, one of whom had rather gruesome injuries on her neck and shoulders, and the other of whom sat with her back firmly against the wall even as she comforted her companion. Both startled at the opening door, although the injured one froze immediately out of consideration for her back.

“If you could do something to help while we arrange for transport to the hospital, it would be greatly appreciated,” Mr. Badger said. His eyes tracked off to the side as he spoke, as if distracted. If Dr. Farris had looked around, he would have seen a small mirror positioned on a nearby desk, and Mr. Badger’s grip tightening on his cane until his knuckles showed white against the dust covering his hands. If he had looked at the uninjured woman a little more carefully, he might have seen that part of her skirt was currently the bandage around her friend’s shoulder. And if he had gone through the door on the opposite wall into the Crystal Palace, he would have found thirty-odd dead cats lying on the floor and an unconscionable amount of broken glass. He did none of these things. Dr. Farris was not a naturally curious man, and was still recovering from his nap being cut short. In this way, he was not a very good doctor.

It took a surprising amount of time to clean Miss Hayashi’s injuries. There was some kind of ichor crusting around the edges, which resisted his attempts to remove it, and the surrounding flesh was already reddened and swollen with infection. When he asked, between careful application of cloth and alcohol, what had caused the injuries, Miss. Hayashi gave a thin, painful smile and said, “An awful lot of broken glass. Perhaps the floor as well.”

Dr. Farris had never heard of glass leaving infection in the wound less than an hour after the injury occurred, but he checked thoroughly for any glinting little pieces as he worked, anyway. In this way, he was a very good doctor.

The time it took to finish his work went unbroken by conversation. Mr. Badger maintained his place by the door. Miss Hayashi’s companion, who had not introduced herself, continued to sit with her back to the wall, as rigid as if she was wearing a backboard. Miss Hayashi herself did not move much either, except to flinch occasionally as the unpleasant business of healing was performed on her person. Dr. Farris finished his work in the gaping silence, and left without asking any uncomfortable questions. In this way, he was the ideal doctor.

It can be difficult to know what to say, after witnessing horrors the likes of which human eyes had not seen for millenia. Hana rather thought the situation was made more awkward by the fact that not four hours previous, the three of them had been perfect strangers. Oh, all right, perhaps she had introduced herself to Alexandra at that social in Paris two years ago, and maybe they’d run into each other again at Lord Wellesley’s New Year party the year after that, but honestly, she knew dozens of people in the same way. It just so happened that  _ these  _ acquaintances were the ones she had nearly died alongside tonight. In that case, a little over-familiarity was probably all right.

“My dear,” she said, placing her hand on Alexandra’s. Off to the side, Captain Badger lunged for the hand mirror and nearly collapsed the table in the process. Alexandra winced, but kept her attention on Hana. “I know that tonight has been--well, probably the worst night of any of our lives, but I was still very glad to see you again, Miss O’Neill.”

Alexandra gave her a tense smile. “You’re certainly right about that. Even after everything I’ve seen working for the monks, I don’t think I’ll ever be free of tonight.” She paused, and her smile relaxed into something more genuine. “It  _ was  _ nice to see you again, as well. As much as I wish the circumstances were different...well, I wouldn’t be opposed to arranging another meeting in the future. During the daytime. Far away from anything more than a decade old.” She gave Hana’s hand a gentle squeeze, and straightened her shoulders against the wall. Hana tried to do the same, but flinched away from the pain in her back and returned to her previous posture, leaning forward and supporting herself on the armrests of the chair. There was an ache developing between her shoulder blades from it. She hoped the ambulance would arrive soon.

Badger limped over, leaning heavily on his cane, and collapsed into a chair across from the two women. He seemed slightly more at ease after looking in the mirror, although his expression was still grim, and his hand shook as he leaned his cane against the side of his chair.

“I can’t say I’m  _ happy  _ with how the evening went, but at least, ah…” he stumbled, as if searching for some way in which the night had not been a disaster, and finally ended on “At least Mr. Merriwether was able to do something.”

Hana let out a thin, cautious laugh. “Oh, you’re not still keeping up that little performance, are you? After everything that’s happened?” Badger gave her a decidedly icy look. She smiled and cocked her head. “I asked before and didn’t get much of an answer: What  _ is  _ a former captain doing working as a butler? Especially for a man like Mr. Merriwether?”

“‘A man like Mr. Merriwether,’” Badger muttered. “I thought he was merely an eccentric, not--”

“An occultist?” Alexandra suggested. “Oh, don’t make that face,” she added when Badger grimaced, “We were almost eaten alive tonight by creatures beyond mortal comprehension. That’s usually the point where skepticism turns into stupidity.”

“All right, yes, an occultist,” Badger agreed grudgingly. “Might as well, it’s not as if it makes any bloody difference.”

“That’s an intriguing thing to say,” Hana said, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, I imagine you would think so. However, since it appears that we will survive the night after all, I would prefer the matter dropped,” Badger said flatly. He stared into the distance for a long moment, tapping his fingers restlessly on the cheap wooden armrest. “Suffice it to say, we each required help at the same time as the other, and I found it...convenient, to be away from curious people. I’m sure you can understand that.” He gave Hana a deeply pointed look. 

Hana scoffed. “Oh, certainly! But maybe I’m just interested for myself.” Her brow creased into a deep frown as she added, “It’s not often I get to say that. I appreciate everything you did for us, Captain. I also appreciate that this is likely the last time any of us will speak of it.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Badger said, at the same time that Alexandra muttered something that sounded like  _ Absolutely not _ .

“I would. That’s all right, though. I think we can all live with that.” 

The conversation ended with the arrival of the ambulance, and Miss Hayashi's swift removal to the hospital. Captain Badger returned to the side of his employer not long after, leaving Alexandra alone in the room. Eventually, she left as well, just before the arrival of the police and the chaos at the discovery of the destroyed cat show. Questions were asked, although they were not the right ones. Investigations were made, which turned up little. First one by one, then in greater numbers, the people left.

Dust fell. Memories scattered. The palace fell silent once more.


End file.
